Not content with axing services that protect children, closing libraries and committing ‘cultural vandalism’ over CALAT, Croydon’s Mayor is now coming after lone-parent families and even disabled residents.
WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, on Perry’s plan to make cuts to Council Tax Support
Jason Perry, Croydon’s failed Mayor, must really be some kind of genius.
He’s just realised that if you increase Council Tax by 39% in just four years, as he will have done with the next increase in April 2027, you cause more financial difficulties for more residents, and more people will need Council Tax Support.
So now he’s looking to cut the council’s subsidy of its local tax, which is received by 19,000 of the borough’s residents. According to the council’s own propaganda, Piss-poor Perry is even looking to cut Council Tax Support to lone-parent families and disabled residents.
“Pushing people further into poverty who are already only just making ends meet is not an option,” is the response from the South Norwood Community Kitchen.
Tory Mayor Perry claims “no decisions have been made”, but he’s said much the same before and then ploughed on regardless with other service cuts. Before he can implement his cuts to support, he has to, by law, conduct a public consultation, and that is now open.
Pot-less as well as clueless: having failed to ‘fix the finances’, Jason Perry is now looking to reduce support for the poor and disabled
The Council Tax Support scheme has already been subjected to cuts by our cash-strapped council, put through by the then Labour administration not long after they managed to bankrupt the borough.
But what the council’s consultation reveals is that this time round the cuts are far more insidious, as Perry looks to inflict financial pain on lone-parent families and disabled residents.
“We know that many residents rely on Council Tax Support and we remain committed to helping those who need it most,” Perry lied in a statement published by the council’s propaganda department.
“However, we also have a responsibility to ensure the scheme remains fair, affordable and sustainable in the long-term,” piss-poor Perry added.
Perry’s shamelessness knows no bounds.
The £86,000 a year part-time Mayor has already increased his own generous salary twice in four years. He’s spending more than £300,000 of your money on three party political appointees to try to help him avoid making himself appear as incompetent in his second term as he demonstrated he really is in his first four years in office.
And meanwhile, his proposed cuts to Council Tax Support, which is paid to the borough’s least-well-off, are being consulted on while Perry and the council’s top brass are recruiting for a chief executive on a salary of £275,000 per year – plus pensions.
“No decisions have been made to proposed changes to the scheme. We want to hear directly from residents, community groups and other partners before any proposals are considered further,” Perry said, convincing no one at all.
The consultation and the council’s publicity around makes it clear that Perry is leaning hard into the Tories’, and Reform Ltd’s, war against benefits.
Have your say?: many doubt that the council be trusted to stage a proper consultation
Council Tax Support helps those on low incomes pay their Council Tax. It is directly related to the levels of Council Tax levied by the authority. In this financial year, after Perry’s latest Council Tax increases, the council says it is paying around £39million through the scheme.
The council is supposed to review its Council Tax Support scheme each year. This year, Perry has the government’s Commissioners looking over his shoulder. “As part of the best value intervention that the council is under, it must also review all spending within its control as part of efforts to improve its financial situation.”
The “range of options” that the council is considering includes “reducing support for some disabled residents”.
One community group, the South Norwood Community Kitchen, has put together a guide for residents, some of whom will receive Council Tax Support, to help them make their response to the consultation.
The changes, SNCK says, “could potentially throw many families and individuals further into debt and poverty”.
They say: “Difficulties paying for Council Tax and subsequent court orders and enforcement action are already one of the more common reasons local people seek out support from us. Further cuts to the Council Tax Support scheme will push even more people into crisis, in a borough that has seen an increase of 35% Council Tax over the last five years [it is actually since 2023].”
‘Meaningful’: Cllr Stuart King is demanding proper consultation
Councillor Stuart King, the leader of the Labour group at the Town Hall, said: “One of the reasons Croydon’s Council Tax Support scheme is more expensive than those operated by other London boroughs is because under Mayor Perry, Council Tax has rocketed by 33%, with further increases planned for next year.
“With more than 19,000 people potentially affected by these changes Mayor Perry is considering, understanding the impact of them will be crucial.
“So the consultation he is undertaking must be comprehensive and meaningful, and a full equalities assessment of the impact of each option must be put to councillors. Otherwise how can you come to a judgement on the right balance between what is affordable to taxpayers and the level of support the poorest households in Croydon need?”
Read more: ‘Challenge remains enormous’ as Perry hikes Council Tax again
Read more: 33% Council Tax increase: Mayor Perry’s legacy for Croydon
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